


five times zuko impressed toph and that one time he impressed everyone

by healinggems



Series: the misadventures of toph and zuko [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, POV Toph Beifong, THIS IS NOT AN OBLIGATORY "THE GANG FINDS OUT" FIC, That's it, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, and toph is living for the fact that he has no chill, that's literally also just the fic, that's the fic, toph adopts zuko as her best friend, toph basically enjoys zuko no matter what he's doing, zuko has no people skills whatsoever, zuko's scar is kind of mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24592411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/healinggems/pseuds/healinggems
Summary: Toph wonders if he'll have the balls to show up again. She really, really hopes he does because being on his side means it's much more amusing to watch him flounder as he tries everything he has to try and convince them he's on their side.Oh, how Toph hopes that this isn't a one time thing.In which Toph has a great time just experiencing the train wreck that is Zuko
Relationships: The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: the misadventures of toph and zuko [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1781785
Comments: 40
Kudos: 1865





	five times zuko impressed toph and that one time he impressed everyone

**Author's Note:**

> toph is so fun to write???? like???? i have had a great time writing this because toph is??? so good?????

i. 

Toph, when compared to everyone else in their ragtag team, is practically spoiling Zuko. It's not so much a 'Zuko showed up and Toph fell in love with him platonically of course because ew' sort of thing, it's more that she recognises that this guys has absolute balls for even trying this and that he's also worse at lying than Sokka is. Which is definitely a pretty high bar to beat. 

She's still spoiling him, though. Even if he's not even with them. 

The entire group decides that him burning her feet is a crime punishable by murder next time he shows his face. Toph just sits there, relying on her hands to see, and thinks. 

In the moment, it was hard not to jerk away from him and yell and blame him for everything, because she couldn't see and he was the one who'd taken that away from her. In the moment, she was more focused on her burning feet than she was on him desperately trying to help her, or on the faded yells she barely heard as she ran away. 

Now, though, she sits and thinks while they all badmouth him. Because in the moment, she was clouded by pain and fear and blindness, but now she sees through her hands and her feet are sore, but healing. Now, she can think about it clearly and realise that it was, admittedly, mostly her fault for sneaking up on him. In the dead of night. While he was trying to get to sleep. 

While he was alone. 

In fact, it's basically entirely her fault for not considering that Zuko probably has a very violent reaction to being woken up in the middle of the night alone, because who wouldn't? 

Toph doesn't try to explain this to the rest of them, because she knows that all they see is a Fire Nation prince who's chased them around the world and done many questionable, horrible things. In comparison, she sees a sixteen year old who probably betrayed his entire country just to offer his help once he got his head out of his ass. 

Toph wonders if he'll have the balls to show up again. She really, really hopes he does because being on his side means it's much more amusing to watch him flounder as he tries everything he has to try and convince them he's on their side. 

Oh, how Toph hopes that this isn't a one time thing. 

ii. 

Toph takes a moment to smirk, even if someone just tried to murder her entire team. Just a small moment, but she smirks nonetheless. 

Why? 

Because it turns out that Zuko definitely has balls. Not only does he turn up again, the assassin he hired also shows up, and Zuko fucking tackles him to the ground and saves everyone's life. 

Of course, she knows that everyone else will somehow manage to twist this so that he looks like the bad guy, still. 

But man, does Zuko have balls. 

Toph lets out a low whistle before being pulled out the way of another attack. No-one comments on this, and by the time they're all safe and decidedly not dying, everyone has forgotten about it and Zuko is a part of the group. 

It doesn't matter how far apart he sits and how quiet he is. Toph makes up her mind and decides he is her new, ballsy, also noble best friend, and sits defiantly next to him. 

They don't say anything, but Zuko's posture goes just a little bit more slack, and she lets herself grin. 

Time to break down the walls and weasel her way into his heart. 

iii. 

Toph can't see fire at all. 

She can feel its heat and proximity, but even through her feet she can't see the fire because it just doesn't vibrate the way water and air might. 

Toph doesn't need to see fire, though, to realise that Zuko's firebending has just gone from better than average, to pretty damn fucking good. Which, though the two phrases seem pretty similar, is pretty fucking different to her. 

And it's all thanks to the dragons. 

She smirks. Facing dragons is pretty fucking ballsy. 

Aang's firebending has also improved, but that kid is the Avatar and he already has Katara and Sokka fawning over him. She figures he can bask in their praise while she goes and makes sure that Zuko doesn't miss out on having his own little fanclub. 

She tells him this. Every word. She can't see it, but she's heard that you say one nice thing about Zuko and his face goes entirely bright red and he gets so nervous that he stutters and fumbles over his words. 

She feels vindicated when this is the case, and a light punch to the arm expresses this. 

iv. 

Zuko and Sokka come back from a hunting trip with Sokka’s dad and girlfriend. Toph bites back a sarcastic mark about what they were 'hunting' for, as she realises they left a note so that she couldn't detect their lie. 

Zuko and Sokka turn out to have broken into a high security Fire Nation prison, while Zuko is still definitely wanted as a traitor, dead or alive with a massive bounty on his head. Do either of them realise how fucking amazing that sounds when someone says it like that? 

She's amazed every day by the sheer amount of balls he has, because he just doesn't seem to run out. That, or he just doesn't have any self-preservation instincts whatsoever, which can be expected of a guy who apparently survived his ship exploding then nearly fucking died of frostbite just a few days after that, while harbouring the Avatar in a cave. 

She decides it's a bit of both, because it is definitely ballsy to steal the Avatar while dealing with several broken ribs. Especially when no-one there seemed to notice that his ribs were broken because he apparently hid it that damn well. But it's both because any sane person would let their ribs heal before attempting something even remotely like that. 

Toph then hears about everything else Zuko does at this prison. Tries not to go utterly ballistic because WHAT THE FUCK? 

She sort of fails, but everyone else reacts with the same gusto so she draws no attention to herself. 

She does take a moment to proudly announce that as Zuko's first friend she gets all the dibs on whatever cool stuff he does in the future. No-one argues, not even Zuko. 

He does grumble underneath his breath a little, but he still agrees to Toph claiming dibs on him. 

v. 

Toph decides to test something out. 

She's heard from the others that Zuko's scar is large and angry and forces his eye half shut, but she wonders just how deep this injury actually is. 

(Tries to ignore how it's a burn. 

Only fire burns.)

She asks Zuko about this, and he sort of flinches and hunches into himself before relaxing when she asks what it means for his vision. Maybe he expected her to ask why it's there in the first place, but she's lived a life full of intrusion and knows how to read the atmosphere of the room even if she can't read or see. She trusts him to tell her when he's ready to, and not a second before. 

She's a weird mix of relieved, glad, horrified and numbly humbled at the same time when he tells her that he's basically blind in his left eye and has some mild hearing issues in his left ear too. Partly because she's finally found the closest thing to someone who can understand her struggles, and partly because someone else took away his sight - he wasn't born with it like she was. He could see perfectly at some point, and now he can't. 

(He mentions a ringing in his ear that distracts him when he gets particularly stressed or worked up, and wonders how he even survived those years at sea if he was as angry as everyone claims he was.

But she doesn't dwell on it. 

Doesn't dwell on the fact that the group sometimes worries about his scar being shaped like a handprint. 

Doesn't dwell on the fact that there are only a few people with the power to get away with doing that.) 

Toph asks him if he's ever considered using his firebending as a way to see before. She figures that firebenders' close relationship to heat and fire means they're probably more sensitive to sources of heat. 

When he tells her no, she offers to help him figure out a way to do so in order to minimise the damage his blind side could do to him. 

She's impressed by how well he does the first time he fights blindfolded. 

She's even more impressed when he first manages to recognise her through her body heat. 

vi. 

Toph has finally convinced Zuko to sit in the circle with everyone else after a long time arguing that isolating himself from the group isn't going to help him gain their trust. 

Of course, just because he's sat with them now, doesn't mean he's suddenly going to join the conversation or, spirits forbid, start one himself. He still sits quietly and he still dismisses himself once he's done eating. 

But she can tell that he's slowly starting to warm up to the gang just like they're slowly getting used the idea that he isn't planning to murder them any time soon. Eventually they'll all be best friends and Toph will get to blackmail them all for being the one to bring them together. 

She hasn't told anyone about her blackmail plan, though. She doesn't want them to take advantage of her when it's entirely the other way around. 

One evening, everyone is sat around the fire together and eating, a small conversation with no real direction flitting between them. Zuko has her on one side and Sokka on the other, and he's still eating quietly and not offering anything to the conversation. 

Then, Sokka abruptly changes the subject and it heads down a path that no-one expects. 

"You know what's always been on my mind?" he asks, tossing his hand out in a vague direction. "Well, it's two things really but do you want to know?" 

Katara sighs with a weariness that only dealing with Sokka for one's entire life can bring, and places her food down. "Oh great Sokka, bless me with what's been on your mind lately," she says flatly, voice dripping with sarcasm. Toph likes this version of Katara - she's more fun this way. 

"Well, first things first, did you guys know that Zuko can breathe fire?" he exclaims. Toph whips her head around to Zuko, who's gone very, very still. More so than usual, even. 

"You can fucking breathe fire?" she asks. 

"Yes," he answers and Toph is having a field day, because Zuko who broke into a maximum security prison in a country that wants him dead, Zuko who can fucking breathe fire, sounds the most awkward Toph has ever heard a person be in her entire life. And she's had to deal with servants who don't know how to address a blind girl. A lot of servants. "I didn't think it was that much of a big deal.

"Not a big deal?" Sokka sounds incredulous. Sure, he sounds incredulous almost all the time but still. "You can breathe fire and it's not a big deal?" 

"I mean, you can throw a boomerang with deadly aim, I don't see what all the fuss is about," Zuko says while rubbing the back of his head, and honestly, he does raise a valid point. He's also just got in Sokka’s good book, because Sokka loves praise and validation and - Toph feels a tiny bit guilty thinking this - barely gets any. 

"Yeah- but- fire breathing! That's so cool!" Sokka splutters. 

"It is pretty cool," Aang says, and Toph can already tell what he's trying to do. 

"No. You don't have enough breath control for that technique yet," Zuko shuts him down before Aang even asks, and Aang wilts. Not for very long, though. 

"But the dragons didn't teach you that, did they?" 

"No, my uncle did," and at that Zuko folds in on himself a little bit, pulling his hands closer to his centre. "When we were on the ship together." 

"Speaking of ships," Sokka intervenes, tactfully realising that Zuko's uncle is a pretty sore spot for him. "How'd you get that fire nation air ship that you came here in?" 

"Stole it," Zuko answers and spirits fucking damn it, Toph loves him even more. 

"When did you have the time to steal an entire air ship?" she asks, because now she has to know every little detail. 

"Oh, it was during the invasion on the Day of the Black Sun." Zuko loosens up a little, now that they've dropped talking about his uncle. 

"I've always wondered about that," Katara cuts in, apparently ignoring all her hate and distrust towards Zuko for this conversation. "You were still in the Fire Nation then, weren't you?" 

"I was," Zuko answers, but his words are cautious and slow, like he doesn't trust where she's going with this. Which is fair, considering it's Katara and she hates him. 

"What were you doing during the eclipse then? We knew Ozai was hiding and some of us encountered Azula, but no-one knew you were even there." Everyone leans a little towards Zuko while they wait for an answer. 

"Well, it's a long story," he starts. "But long story short, I was threatening the Firelord with my swords while he stood there defenseless."

"You fucking what?" she all but screeches. This is even better than everything that happened at the prison, and she hasn't even heard the full story yet. 

"Well, at that point, I'd realised that what I thought I wanted, to go home and restore my honour, wasn't what I wanted anymore, and I was planning on disappearing and breaking uncle out with me. But before I went, I really just wanted to tell him to go fuck himself while he couldn't murder me afterwards for saying it."

"You planned," Katara starts, her words low and careful. "To break your uncle out, and threaten your father on the same day as the invasion?" 

"Well, I knew there was an invasion but I really did it that day because we couldn't firebend, and I knew that he couldn't hurt me without his firebending because he and Azula only ever bothered learning to fight with fire instead of weapons." For a moment, Toph is reminded of the fact his scar is shaped not unlike a handprint. 

"So you waltzed into the Firelord's bunker, threatened him with your swords and then what?" Sokka prompts. 

"Well, I said some stuff, he said some stuff, I told him all that was cruel and then said that the Fire Nation wasn't sharing its glory, it was ruining other people's, told him I was hoping to join you guys in your quest and then when the eclipse was over he shot some lightning at me and then-"

"Woah woah woah, hold up a second," Sokka interrupts. Zuko does hold up for a second, so Sokka continues. "He shot lightning at you? How are you still alive?" 

"Oh! I know this!" Aang basically jumps at the chance to answer this question. "Zuko can redirect lightning! He's going to teach me that, soon!" 

Not shoot it? Well, whatever pleases him, Toph thinks to herself. 

"Where did you learn how to redirect lightning?" Katara speaks up. Zuko’s heart rate picks up a little, but he answers anyway. 

"Uncle taught me while we were in the Earth Kingdom. It's a move inspired by waterbending techniques that basically involves taking it with one hand and shooting it back out with the other," he explains. "In fact, a lot of our moves are inspired by other types of bending, because uncle travelled the world then taught me most of what he knows during our time in exile."

"What about those fire daggers you've mentioned?" Aang cuts in. "Are those inspired by a type of bending?"

Zuko’s answer comes out as a small mumble. "I just really like knives." 

As cute as that awkward, embarrassed answer is, Toph just really wants to hear the rest of the story. 

"Anyway," she interrupts. "As interesting as Zuko's firebending habits are, he's in the middle of getting shot with lightning by his father, so let him finish the damn story."

"Right. Obviously, I'm not dead, which means I managed to catch and redirect the lightning, but I didn't shoot it back at him."

"Why not? Because you secretly want the Fire Nation to win?" There's the Katara that mildly annoys Toph every time she talks. 

"No. I mean - if I killed him as I am, it would complicate the entire matter of who becomes Firelord in his place. There wouldn't have been a respectful duel that clearly allowed me to take over if he died - he would've just been murdered by me. Besides, in the end, it just didn't feel right." Toph wonders which part of her she agrees with more - the part that respects why he didn't do it, or the part that agrees the reasons aren't enough for sparing his life. 

Zuko continues with his story, and everyone listens, silent with their shock and awe as he finishes with an "and that's how I ended up here". 

Fucking hell, Toph thinks to herself as the conversation shifts to something different. 

She's already known since she met him for the first time that Zuko has no chill or restraint, and is pretty fucking ballsy, but hearing that he ripped his father to shreds during the eclipse, then redirected lightning? Toph bets everyone is secretly thanking every spirit they know of that Zuko went from the evil side to the good side. 

That guy would have probably caught up with them sooner or later if he hadn't suddenly stopped.

**Author's Note:**

> i don't really do much on it but i have a tumblr dedicated to writing - @heaalinggems  
> idk if you wanna like check it out or something


End file.
